Blank-guiding mechanism



Feb. 17, 1931. W ER 1,792,878

BLANK GUIDING MECHANI SM Filed April 17. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR Z I BY Arno, PM

ATTO N EYS Feb. 17, 1931. J. WAGNER 2,87

BLANK GUIDING lECI-IANISII Filed April 17. 1929 2 sheets-sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 17, 1931 war STATES PATENT orrica JOSHUA WAGNER, OFBROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO PROGRESSIVE CORRUGATED PAPER MACHINERY CO. INC., OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK BLANK-GUIDING MECHANISM Application filed April 17,1929. Serial Nb. 855,685.

The invention relates to a blank guiding mechanism adapted to be used in connection with machines such as the taping machines, slitters, slotters, etc., which are employed in the manufacture of corrugated paper board containers, and wherein the lower-most blank of a stack of box blanks is periodically fed by a pusher bar to the parts of the machine which pick up the blank so fed and carry it through the machine so as to perform the desired operations on the blank.

In machines of the above nature the stack of blanks is customarily held in position over a table over which the pusher bar travels, by means of side guides which are adjustable in position so as to be accommodated to box blanks of different sizes, and particularly where narrow blanks are being operated upon, the guides must be positioned above the path of travel of the pusher bar and hence constructed to permit the latter to pass under them. The above requirements heretofore have been met by providing a space equal to the thickness of the pusher bar between the 7 guide members and the surface of the table,

which space, however, frequently permits the blank being fed to shift out of alinement with the guide members and thereby be fed at an improper angle to the active parts of the machine.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide guide members which, while permitting the pusher bars to travel under them as above referred to, will, nevertheless,

insure that the blank being fed is held in proper alinement at all times. Further objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious and in part specifically pointed out in the description hereinafter contained which, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof; such embodiment, however, is to be considered merely as illustrative of its principles. In the drawings- I Fig. 1 is a side elevation with certain parts cut away of a taping machine having a blank guiding mechanism constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine shown in Fig. 1. r r

Fig. 3 is a detail sect-ion on line 33 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing detached, one of the blank guiding members forming a part of the above machine.

F ig. 5 is a detail section taken on line 5 .5 of Fig. 4. V

r The invention is illustrated as applied to a taping machine having a table 1 on the opposite sides of which are carried brackets 2 which support a cross-bar 3, which latter adjustably carries a pair of guides 4 positioned against the side edges of a stack of box blanks 5 to be taped. The guides 4, as shown most clearly in Figs. 3 and 4, may beprovided with a Ushaped piece 6, slidably engaging the cross-bar 3, and having a top plate 7 (Fig. 8) bolted thereon, and adapted to be pressed against the cross-bar 3 by a hand screw 8, when it is desired to clamp the guides in adjusted position. A pair of guide posts 9, adjustable in similar mannerby hand screws 10, also will usually be provided to engage the forward edges of the stack of blanks and permit only the lowermost blank to be pushed'forwardly between the bottom edges of the posts and the surface of table 1, by the feed bars hereinafter described. As shown in Fig. 3, a suitable number of guide fingers 11 may be employed to hold the blanks down against the surface of table 1, while being fed forwardly.

Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings show in outline a tape feeding and cutting mechanism which I have denoted generally by numeral 12, which mechanism will not be described in detail herein since machines for the above purpose are already known in the art and have no special relation to the features of the present invention. The above mechanism 12 may be understood as periodically feeding a length of tape 13 (Fig. 1) to a point between a pair of rolls 14 and 15, around which rolls pass traveling conveyor belts 16 and 17, in such manner that as the blank 5 is fed between rolls' l4 and such blank and the corresponding length of tape 13 are picked up between the conveyor belts 16 and 1'1 and carried along between the latter to press the tape in position along the abutting edges of the blanks which are to be taped. Machines operating in the above manner have been known in the art for ten years or more and hence the above features of the machine will not be described in greater detail.

The lowermost blanks are periodically and successively fed from beneath the stack of blanks above mentioned by one or more pusher bars 18 traveling over the surface of table 1, and although no specific mechanism for moving such pusher bars is to be understood as essential in connection with the pres ent invention, such mechanism may be understood as including chains 19 driven by suitable sprockets 20 and having their upper flights running in recesses 21 in the surface of table 1. The pusher bars 18 are thus moved successively over the surface of table 1 and beneath the guides at in a forward direction, in such manner as to advance tl e lowermost blanks 5 of the stack, successively for ard until the latter are picked up by the rolls 14: and 15 or convey r belts associated therewith.

In order to insure proper alinement of the blanks while being fed forwardly by the pusher bars, or in other words to prevent the blanks from being fed askew of the operat ing parts of the machine, I provide in connection with the side guides 4, guide members which normally depend beneath the level of guides 4 into the path of travel of pusher bars 18, the above mentioned members, however, being capable of being raised up out of the way of the bars as the latter pass along; the side members above mentioned engage the side edges of the blank being fed sufficiently to prevent the latter from shifting out of alinement, and nevertheless do not obstruct the'movement of the pusher bars. In the particular form of the invention which is illustrated, the above mentioned guide members take the form of plates 22 which are slidably mounted along the lower edges of guides 4, as by means of bolts 23 (Fig. 5) slidably received in slots 24 of guides 4c and fastened to guide members 22, whereby the latter may slide up and down in recessed portions 25 of guices 4;. Normally the guide members 22 are urged by gravity to assume a lower position, resting upon or closely adjacent the surface of table 1, but each pusher bar 18 as it advances, lifts up the corresponding part of each guide member 22, as is shown most clearly in Fig. 3. However, in all positions the members 22 present guiding surfaces at the sides of the blank being fed, and at the level of such blank, which are sufficient to conline the latter to its proper path of travel.

While a specific form of the invention has been described it should be understood that many changes may be made therein without departing from its principles as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the class described, a table or the like adapted to support a stack of blanks to be fed along such table, side guides adapted to engage the side edges of such a stack of blanks, a pusher bar, means for moving said pusher bar along said table and underneath said guides, said guides including guide members normally depending into the path of travel of said pusher bar, but said guide members being vertically movable to make room for the pusher bar to pass underneath the same.

2. In a machine of the class described, a table or the like adapted to support a stack of blanks to be fed along such table, side guides adapted to engage the side edges of such a stack of blanks, a pusher bar, means for moving said pusher bar along said table and underneath said guides, said guides including vc'tically movable guide members normally urged into a lower position projecting down into the path of travel of said pusher bar, whereby the pusher bar engages such guide members to lift them outof its way as it moves along said table.

3. In a machine of the class described, a table or the like adapted to support a stack of blanks to be fed along such table, side guides adapted to engage the side edges of such a stack of blanks, a pusher bar, means for moving said pusher bar along said table and underneath said guides, said guides having slidably mounted thereon and normally depending therefrom into the path of travel of said pusher bar, guide members preventing the blanks from passing underneath said guides.

4. In a machine of the class described, a table or the like adapted to support a stack of blanks to be fed along such table, side guides adapted to engage the side edges of such a stack of blanks, a pusher bar, means for moving said pusher bar along saicL table and underneath said guides, guiding means being provided in the path of travel of said pusher bar to prevent the blanks from shifting sidewise when being moved along by the pusher bar, said guiding means being movably supported to make room for the bar to move past the same.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JO SHUA WAGNER, 

